The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-01-01

4
MRS. Naackay's Napphircs.
Speaking of the Legitimists, a
very odd association has been
formed among the partisans of roy
atty in France, which has the OBJ
ject of purchasing the crown jew
els which are shortly to be offered
for sale, with the intent to preserve
them in safekeeping till the restora-
ton of the monarchy or empire
takes place. There never was a
movement set on foot that was
much more absurd than this, in
view of the perfectly commonplace
character of the trinkets which are
to be disposed Of All the unique
gems, including the Regent and the
Mazarin diamonds, and the few re-
ally artistic pieces of the collection,
are to be preserved. The remainder,
valued at about 50, 100000, com.
prises a number of very handsome
but perfectly ordinary sets of pre-
cious stones, which could be got up
at months notice by any one Of
the leading jewellers of Paris. And
l do not think that any future
Queen of France would care to as
sumo the famous girdle of the EN-
press Eugene, copied from that
worn by the representative of the
Princess Aka in the fairy specta-
Gle Of Lo Biche au Bois," or the
necklace formed of a network of
gold chains and great pear-shaped
imitation pearls, which she once
wore when representing Venetian
Dogessa as bal costume. 1t was
not exactly the thing for an En-
press to deck herself with imitation
jewels, but Eugene was always
more cabortine than imperial. Her
necklace of pearls, the wedding gift
to her of the Emperor, had an odd
series of vicissitudes. 1t was orig
inally sold, after the fall of the en-
pire, to Mime. Musard, then, after
the death of that parsonage, it fell
into the hands of a dealer in second
hand wares, who vainly offered it
for some time at the price of SAC, 900 !;
and it was finally broken up and
disposed of, string by string, among
the Partisan jewelers.. In the world
of Partisan fashion the Princess
Anna Murat, Duchess de Mouchy,
is said to possess the finest collec-
tion of ornaments, the Viscountess
de Courval owns the largest and
finest and purest diamonds, and
the Duchess of Bisaccia the most
curious collection of unset gems.
The eulogies of the peerless sap
phires of Mrs. Mackay have been so
often written and uttered that they
need nothing more than a mere
mention here. Mrs. Mackay also
possesses three large rubies Of
great beauty and historical interest.
They are known to connoisseurs by
the name of "The Drops of Blue
Blood and were brought from
Spain into France by Maria Theresa,
wife of Louis XIV, of whose we'd
ding ornaments they formed part.
They are of a most beautiful rich
hue, but through the center of each
stone runs narrow wavering blush
stain like a thread of pale blue
mist, from which their curious
name was probably derived. From
their perfect matching in size and
color it is probable that they were
originally worn as pendants to a
brooch or necklace clasp. In their
present form they are set two as
earrings and the third rs a ring.
Mrs. Mackay's pearl necklaces are
unique in beauty and are rot to be
paralleled outside of the jewel-
caskets Of royalty. One is COM
posed Of three rows Of pearls, per-
feet in water and matching pre-
cisely, each pearl being the size OF
a large huckleberry. Baucheron,
the great Partisan jeweler, was three
years in collecting the pearls that
compose it. The other necklace is
a string of graduated pearls, the
center one equaling in magnitude
goods sized cherry. But the fair
owner of all these splendors cares
less about them and wears them
less often than can well be com
pretended by sister woman. She
was offered at one time the inn
mense and most beautiful yellow
diamond known as the "Star OF
South Africa" before it was finally
disposed of to the Shah of Persia
but refused to purchase it. And
only her most intimate friends ever
guessed that the reason of this re-
fusal was the magnitude of the sums
which at that epoch she had dedi
Gated to the charitable works which
form the great happiness OF hel
life.
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